#15 - Bratislava Hot Serenaders Sunday Concerts - 2008 Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival

#15 - Bratislava Hot Serenaders Sunday Concerts - 2008 Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival : The amazing Hot Serenaders from Slovakia were the big hits of our 2004 and 2006 Festivals. We consider this eighteen-piece orchestra to be quite simply the best interpreters of twenties and thirties big-band music working today. It’s really no exaggeration to say that this lost music is a kind of obsession for them: their arrangements have been lovingly transcribed note-for-note from the old 78s, they rehearse constantly (as is very apparent from the precision of their work), play vintage instruments, dress in period evening dress and even brilliantine their hair like their musical heroes! They can play hot or sweet and the soloists play with great fire and inventiveness, totally in sympathy with the genre. Add a close harmony trio a la Boswell Sisters, two jazz-age crooners, the odd sensuous tango and even a Czech number or two from the period and you have some idea of the musical and visual treat in store for us. From programme notes by Mike Durham